Greenwich resident one of Cruise's 'top guns' in divorce

Lisa Chamoff

Updated 10:10 pm, Friday, July 13, 2012

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2012 file photo, actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes arrive at the Vanity Fair Oscar party, in West Hollywood, Calif. Cruise and Holmes have reached an agreement in their divorce case, according to her attorney. Holmes' attorney Jonathan Wolfe said in a statement Monday, July 9, that the case has been settled and an agreement was signed. Holmes filed for divorce less than two weeks ago, putting an end to the romance that began in 2005. The couple has a 6-year-old daughter, Suri. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File)

Photo: Evan Agostini, Associated Press

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2012 file photo, actors Tom Cruise and...

Marilyn Chinitz at her Greenwich home, Friday, July 13, 2012. Chinitz, a divorce lawyer, represented Tom Cruise in his divorce from Katie Holmes. Chinitz said she was also the lawyer for Michael Douglas in his divorce from Diandra Douglas.
Photo: Bob Luckey

This image released by People shows the July 16, 2012 cover of "People" magazine featuring the divorce of actors Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise. Holmes filed for divorce from Cruise on Thursday, June 28. The couple, who married in 2006, share a daughter Suri. Cruise has two children with his previous wife, Nicole Kidman. The actor was also previously married Mimi Rogers. This is Holmes' first marriage. The issue is available on newsstands. (AP Photo/People)

Photo: People

This image released by People shows the July 16, 2012 cover of...

Marilyn Chinitz at her Greenwich home, Friday, July 13, 2012. Chinitz, a divorce lawyer, represented Tom Cruise in his divorce from Katie Holmes. Chinitz said she was also the lawyer for Michael Douglas in his divorce from Diandra Douglas.
Photo: Bob Luckey

Co-hosts Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes pose for photographers at a private party in honor of Victoria and David Beckham at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sunday, July 22, 2007, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Rene Macura) (AP)

Co-hosts Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes pose for photographers at a...

Marilyn Chinitz at her Greenwich home, Friday, July 13, 2012. Chinitz, a divorce lawyer, represented Tom Cruise in his divorce from Katie Holmes. Chinitz said she was also the lawyer for Michael Douglas in his divorce from Diandra Douglas.
Photo: Bob Luckey

Marilyn Chinitz at her Greenwich home, Friday, July 13, 2012. Chinitz, a divorce lawyer, represented Tom Cruise in his divorce from Katie Holmes. Chinitz said she was also the lawyer for Michael Douglas in his divorce from Diandra Douglas.
Photo: Bob Luckey

**FILE** Tom Cruise, right, and Katie Holmes kiss on Via della Conciliazione boulevard near St. Peter's Basilica, as they arrive at the St. Cecilia auditorium for the David di Donatello Italian film awards, in Rome, April 29, 2005. When asked why he appears to be less inhibited about showing his affection for Holmes in public than in his past relationships, Cruise tells "Access Hollywood" co-anchor Billy Bush in an interview to air Monday, May 23, 2005: "I am so happy and I am not going to pretend or hide it or be shy. This woman is magnificent."(AP Photo/Corrado Giambalvo) (AP)

**FILE** Tom Cruise, right, and Katie Holmes kiss on Via della...

**FILE** Tom Cruise embraces fiancee Katie Holmes during the red-carpet arrivals for the United States premiere of Steven Spielberg's movie War of the Worlds, in New York, in a Thursday, June 23, 2005 photo. (AP Photo/Stuart Ramson, File) (AP)

**FILE** Tom Cruise embraces fiancee Katie Holmes during the...

Cast member Tom Cruise and his fiance actress Katie Holmes attend the fan screening of "Mission: Impossible III" at the Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood in this May 4, 2006 file photo. Days after Cruise's movie, ``Mission: Impossible III,'' opened to lackluster ticket sales, a new opinion poll may explain why -- the actor's star power has dimmed considerably in the eyes of the public. According to a USA Today/Gallup poll published on May 10, 2006 just 35 percent of adults surveyed over the weekend, when the film debuted in theaters, said they had a favorable opinion of Cruise. Fifty-one percent had an unfavorable opinion. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/Files (REUTERS)

Chinitz, who has lived in Greenwich for nearly two decades, is a New York City divorce lawyer who is part of the team representing the "Top Gun" star in his very public split from actress Katie Holmes.

The attorneys announced Monday that the couple had reached a settlement, less than two weeks after Holmes had filed for divorce in Manhattan, where she and daughter Suri are living.

"I think that's a credit to the parties, and it's a credit to the attorneys who represent both parties, that it was their desire to resolve things expeditiously because that was in the best interest of their daughter, and that was in the best interest of moving on with their lives," Chinitz, 56, said in an interview this week with Greenwich Time.

Don't expect Chinitz to dish about the breakup of "TomKat" -- she's been asked to reveal details in the confidential case by many persistent reporters.

"It's very easy because I decline to comment," Chinitz said. "That's the best way for me to address inquiries and aggressive reporting."

Chinitz led the New York team for Cruise along with Sheila Riesel and Dylan Mitchell, her fellow attorneys at Blank Rome, a top matrimonial law firm where Chinitz has been a partner since 2007.

"Marilyn was a great asset to the team," Fields said in an email. "She's an outstanding lawyer."

Chinitz said all the counselors worked together, and that it was a "team effort" to negotiate the quick settlement.

"This got done in a week, and divorce cases can take sometimes a year or two years," Chinitz said. "There was a real commitment among the attorneys and the clients to not engage in litigation and really work together to get it resolved."

While her cases haven't all been glitz and glamour, Chinitz has worked with other famous clients. In 2010, Chinitz represented actor Michael Douglas when his ex-wife, Diandra Douglas, filed a lawsuit claiming she was entitled to royalties from his film "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps." The original "Wall Street" came out in 1987, before the couple divorced in 2000. The case was eventually dismissed.

Chinitz said she has landed celebrity clients who have been referred to her by their California counsel, but aside from the relentless media coverage, they are no different from the regular folks she represents.

"The uniqueness is only because of the attention that it gets," Chinitz said. "The substance of the case is like every other matrimonial case. There are issues involving children, there are issues regarding the dissolution of marital property. The issues that present to movie stars present to ordinary people."

One would think that helping hundreds of couples separate would lead Chinitz to be a little jaded about marriage.

Quite the contrary. Chinitz and her husband, Piero Pozzi, celebrated her 26th wedding anniversary on Friday.

The couple, who met at a dinner party in the glitzy Hamptons, have two children, a daughter who is going into her last year at George Washington University and a son going into 11th grade at King school in Stamford.

"I think what you realize is life is short, your family is the most important -- at least in my family that's the case -- and we do what's necessary to keep everybody strong and happy and healthy," Chinitz said.

Pozzi, who works as a consultant to private equity firms, said his wife can't share the details of her high-profile cases -- and he doesn't want to know about them, anyway.

"It's her job, and I basically leave that between her and her client," Pozzi said.

To her credit, Chinitz said she has had a hand in saving some marriages.

"I will know that somebody doesn't really want a divorce and I send them to an excellent therapist," she said. "I think it is very important to have people identify what they really feel and steer them in right direction."